Auckland house prices dip in Feb as stock increasesWed, 04 Mar 2015 10:00Average Auckland house prices dipped 1.3 per cent between January and February as more supply hit the market.Barfoot & Thompson has just released its February figures which showed more properties being listed and January's average...

Develop, nest and enjoy the bestWed, 04 Mar 2015 05:00When the home that Dorothy Gardiner had lived in as a teenager came up for sale after her mother died, she didn't hesitate to buy it.Although modest, the bach-like 1920s weatherboard villa, which runs between Benbow and Kaimata...

High on the harbourWed, 04 Mar 2015 05:00Much as she would have loved to, Patrea Hall never quite got around to spending a night in her penthouse apartment with its prime views overlooking the harbour and port.The busy textile agent and her Australian husband Michael,...

Fusion of rustic and industrial moodsWed, 04 Mar 2015 05:00When Michael and Mary Fitzpatrick bought a Parnell cottage four years ago that had, to put it politely, seen better days, their intention was to renovate while honouring its heritage.They've done that in spectacular style, but along...

Normans more than double stake in WarehouseTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:56James Pascoe, the owner of Farmers and Whitcoulls, has more than doubled its shareholding in The Warehouse Group to 16.4 per cent after snapping up Aussie supermarket operator Woolworths' stake in New Zealand's biggest listed retailer.Warehouse...

Property values rise at fastest pace in five monthsTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:19New Zealand residential property values rose at the fastest pace in five months in February, driven by strong demand in Auckland.National property values rose 6.4 per cent over the past year, ahead of the 5.7 per cent pace in January...

KiwiSaver: Govt says law change on track for first home buyersTue, 03 Mar 2015 05:00We are looking at purchasing a first house in the next couple of months.I have been in touch with my KiwiSaver provider regarding the changes to the KiwiSaver first home withdrawal scheme on April 1, being that "In addition to being...

eHome to finish building houses in receivershipTue, 03 Mar 2015 05:00The country's biggest off-site house manufacturer, now in receivership, is finishing the work it started at New Zealand's most advanced special housing area.Brian Donnelly, executive director of the New Zealand Housing Foundation,...

Taurus Group tells investors 'don't speak to media'Mon, 02 Mar 2015 05:00Investors in property syndicates formerly run by SPI have been told to close ranks to the media.Two separate investors in the syndicates, which notched up $25 million in accumulated losses during the 2014 financial year, say their...

Average Auckland house price hits record $764,000Sun, 01 Mar 2015 05:00Average asking prices for houses have smashed through the half-million-dollar barrier for the first time.New figures from realestate.co.nz reveal the average national asking price for homes peaked at $511,421 last month, up from...

Consumer Watch: Good rent deal harder to getSun, 01 Mar 2015 05:00Soaring house prices and tighter lending rules mean ever-increasing numbers of New Zealanders are becoming long-term renters.But getting a good deal as a renter can be just as cut-throat as securing an affordable home, especially...

Bernard Hickey: Blame it all on BaselSun, 01 Mar 2015 05:00Why are house prices so ruinously high in New Zealand? Is it too much migration or too few controls on foreign buying?In a KPMG report this week, bank executives mused that foreign cash buyers were pumping up asset values.Are...

Home sweet homeSat, 28 Feb 2015 05:00The personal trainer bought the semidetached three-level townhouse, one of a group of 19, in Mt Eden in September last year. She was looking for inner-city living, somewhere that was low-maintenance, and she had saved a 20 per cent...

Stately villa ready for next 100 yearsSat, 28 Feb 2015 05:00In a seamless transaction, Grant and Christine Price bought their next-door neighbour's early 20th-century villa in leafy Greenlane 16 years ago."There were no agents. We did the deal between ourselves over a bottle of wine, then...

Make a defining statement in bush clad gemSat, 28 Feb 2015 05:00Ask Christine Rankin what's behind the bling and she'll run through the list: the proportions, height and a pale backdrop -- the perfect foundation for a splash of bright colour.She's talking houses here, and the colour and sparkle...

Surge in Kiwi listings on AirbnbSat, 28 Feb 2015 05:00Kiwis are increasingly subletting their spare rooms, refurbished sheds and even the odd couch to strangers hoping to discover a new place.Hundreds and thousands of people have signed up to Airbnb, a company and website that let...

Plenty of room to come and staySat, 28 Feb 2015 05:00Gillian Fong is more than a little sad to be leaving the Ponsonby home she and her husband Weimond have owned for more than 33 years.They bought the former hostel back in Ponsonby's bohemian days when locals used to spit-roast pigs...

Privacy, peace, sun and birdlifeSat, 28 Feb 2015 05:00Four years of working on nature programmes for television sparked a desire in Helen Bissett and Wayne Tourell to live in a bush environment.The couple had been based in Dunedin while working as producers for Natural History New...

Reveal the vast space withinSat, 28 Feb 2015 05:00The front of this architecturally renovated home started out as an original worker's house but there's nothing working class about the creature comforts unfurling unexpectedly inside.Its fountained lap-pool, Italian gourmet kitchen...